


A Hot Spring on Venus

by SubtextEquals



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Other, Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:28:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23395540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SubtextEquals/pseuds/SubtextEquals
Summary: Buddy lets her crew get some R&R on Venus. Juno takes advantage of the hot spring and Nureyev joins him. It's a dream come true for Juno, even if it's not how he pictured it.
Relationships: Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel
Comments: 9
Kudos: 82





	A Hot Spring on Venus

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt: Jupeter at one of those hotels with hot springs on Venus.

Venus was a wild, volatile planet. Even now, some of it had not been tamed. Juno should know, he got a good look at it through the dome. The thick atmosphere outside couldn’t be blocked out entirely, giving the whole sky a brilliant purple color. 

That morning, Buddy had gathered them together for one more order. “Now, we have three days until we make the exchange and I want you all to spend it relaxing. Am I clear? I need you all to recharge so you can be fresh as daisies after. You’re going to need it.”

Juno could have dwelled on that ominous send off but he didn’t. Well, not after a wry remark or two. Even with the toxic gas and temperature that a thousand years of terraforming hadn’t changed right outside the dome, this was Venus. Everyone said their hot springs were worth dying for. They weren’t right, but they were close to it.

With his eye closed and the water bubbling up around him-- lulling him into a sense of security that was undoubtedly false but who cared?-- Juno forgot about anything else.

“Enjoying yourself?”

Almost anything.

Juno didn’t open his eyes right away. He just gave Nureyev a soft grunt in reply and waited as the water rippled. Nureyev barely made a sound as he slid in. Juno waited even longer to see if Nureyev would move closer but he kept his distance.

Now Juno opened his eyes.

Most of Nureyev’s long, lean form was submerged. He sat across from him, watching keenly even though he tried to play it cool. Juno knew because it was exactly how he was watching Nureyev.

They’d done a lot of that. Watching each other. Feeling unsure. Neither of them knew what to do. Whatever was between them, it was fragile and yet unyielding, refusing to break even when one or both of them stepped on it with razor sharp high heels.

“I wondered what it’d be like here,” he finally said, summoning whatever energy was left after the hot spring leached it from him. The heat sapped his strength and his thoughts came slower. “I feel like I’m going to melt.”

Nureyev laughed, showing his sharp teeth. “To accomplish that, you’ll have to leave Maat Mons and go to surface level.”

“Mm, I think I’ll stay here.” Information lurked in the recesses of Juno’s mind. The colonization of Venus and its terraformation were distant history, but somehow it was relevant to the development of the hot springs. It was not at all relevant to not-melting in one of them or lounging in one with Nureyev across from him.

Nureyev laughed quietly. Juno saw the tips of his canines peek out from between his lips as the laugh turned into a smile. Nureyev leaned back and if Juno’s gaze drifted away from his eyes, well, who could blame him?

“Is it what you expected?” Nureyev asked.

For a moment, Juno felt the cold of the ancient Martian tomb-- and Nureyev’s voice, there to greet him when he woke. Maybe it was longer than a moment, because the next thing he knew, Nureyev moved toward him. He stopped only when he was next to Juno. He tried not to show that he was concerned but Juno could read him well enough by now.

“It’s fine,” Juno said instinctively, then thought about it. He was trying to do better. True communication wasn’t easy but that didn’t mean he couldn’t learn it. Or so Buddy said. “I mean uh--”

“You don’t have to talk about it.” Nureyev hesitated, then placed his hand on Juno’s shoulder. Juno leaned into him until he was curled up against him. Nureyev wrapped his arm around him, his hand idly stroking Juno’s skin.

They stayed like that for some time, unmoving, embracing the heat.

Technically, Juno shared his hotel room with Rita. Buddy said it was their turn to play the part of husband and wife so he’d better accept it. “And please be quiet, Juno. All you have to do is act like yourself.”

Judging by the look on his face and his stammer, Juno resented that implication. Nureyev laughed at it. Why should he be jealous when it was clear that Juno had as much romantic interest in Rita as Jet did in her and vice versa? So he let them share the room in theory. In practice, Rita spent most of the time in Jet’s room, watching streams and Nureyev…

Well, Juno did have a better view. When Nureyev stood on the balcony, if he looked up he could see one of the cities above him. After arriving, he’d told Juno about the first attempt at terraforming Venus. The domes used on Mars weren’t strong enough for Venus’s atmosphere and heat so they spread out and used the sky. Then Juno responded by going into more detail about the colonization than Nureyev wanted to know. It made Nureyev want to kiss him. To silence him.

He didn’t need to know the history of this floating city or how it worked. As for how it floated, he’d rather it remain a mystery although he already had an idea.

He watched the unmoving city. There were so many people going about their lives above them as others had for millennia before them. As others would continue to do. Like Brahma.

Juno cleared his throat. Nureyev looked to his side as Juno stepped next to him.

“Do you uh, want to go there? There’s probably a shuttle tomorrow. I know Buddy said to stay here but we’d be back in three days, no problem.”

Nureyev considered it. And then he considered the hesitation in Juno’s voice, one that he couldn’t fully chalk up to their tenuous-- relationship.

He hadn’t asked what Juno had seen inside his mind back in that tomb. He wondered once again if it had involved the floating city Nureyev tried to forget.

“Hm,” he said. “We should stay here for now. If this doesn’t go well, it would be harder to cover our tracks.”

Juno shrugged. “Maybe some other time.”

“Don’t sound so disappointed,” Nureyev teased. “I can think of how to stay occupied here.”

He watched Juno’s throat bob when he swallowed. A few moments later he kissed the exact same spot on his neck.

When Juno awoke that morning, he was in a hotel on Venus, with Nureyev beside him. He opened his eyes. He slowly sat up and looked down at Nureyev, who didn’t disappear along with Juno’s dream. He watched Nureyev for a long moment, sighed, and lay back down again. He slung his arm around Nureyev. And he stayed.


End file.
